14 Mat’land players get Zim U-20 call up

FOURTEEN players from the Matabeleland Rugby Football Board (MRFB) have been invited to the Zimbabwe Under-20 rugby trials to be held at Churchill High School in Harare on Saturday.

Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) women’s development manager Reuben Kumpasa said the invitation came following an assessment by the Zimbabwe Under-20 rugby team coach Farai Mahari at Hartsfield Grounds last Sunday.

“As a province, we have been training for the past three weeks and the guys have prepared very well aiming for the national team jersey.

“The national team coach came here to see how the guys are doing as well as to share with players the philosophy and expectations of the national team.

“He was really impressed with these 14 players and invited them to try their luck on Saturday. We are happy they managed to impress the coach and hopefully they will make it into the final 25 that will travel to Madagascar,” said Kumpasa.

He said the players will depart for Harare on Friday where they are going to join other rugby players from around the country.

The Young Sables are preparing for the Barthes Cup tournament, formerly known as Africa Cup Under-20, which will be held from April 17-23.

Zimbabwe will play against Kenya in the semi-finals, while Namibia take on Madagascar, with the winner going on to clash in the final.

The winner of the competition will earn a ticket to represent Africa in the World Rugby Under-20 tournament to be held in Uruguay from August 29 to September 10.